Lucius moves aside while Bofar throws his hammer. The weapon however never reaches its intended destination. A shimmering door of what seems like a watery mirror appears just in front of Bofar and the hammer disappears into it. Then the strange door disappears too, and both the bearded man and the mirror are gone.
"He was Skarda!" Bonth says, coming near you.
In the meantime Gila or the other wizards have dispelled the magical mist. Kesh is looking at the people who fell down.
Lord Kelvin, the father, and the son too come near you with Fain Flinn, Lord Arturus, his daughter Arteris and Retameron to see what happened.
The young Kelvin, Arteris and Bonth appear tired, wounded and haggard.
"What just happened?" the young Kelvin asks.

After the confusion has ended, it's time to see who has come out of the mirror. Desmond Kelvin and Arteris Penhaligon, with Dorus, Ludovico, Nicola and Sara of the Order of the Griffon, and Bonth, Milo and Talla the halflings are here, as is Elena Kelvin, Desmond's mother, emaciated and tired after ten years of captivity. However many people are missing: Claudia Penhaligon and Milena Antonic, Arteris and Retameron's mothers, your companions Dim and Dorn, the wizards Agnja and Blago with Muck the goblin, the cleric Elwyn, the two soldiers of Highforge Petrus and Arkan, 2 of the 4 Knights of the Three Suns from Penhaligon. The latter two fate is well known: one you found dead in Actias, another was killed in the last battle. But Arteris, Desmond and Bonth do not know much about the others: they were put in different confinements and they could not find them before escaping.
"For all we know, they could have been sold as slave somewhere. From inside the mirror you cannot tell where you are going in the normal world", Bonth says.
"And we were unable to discover much about the fate of my mother and Lady Milena. Lady Elena says they were separated three years ago", Arteris says.
"We have much to talk about - Desmond says, leaving for a moment the side of his mother and father - we have win a battle against Skarda, but not the war, and we have discovered much about him!"

You now have time to rest a bit in Stallanford. The lair of the orcs has been explored to the west of town and found empty, as they probably escaped north after the defeat in battle. Desmond Kelvin II in the meantime has much to tell about the place inside the mirror and what he discovered there, so you are present when he Arteris and Bonth tell everything to his father, Lord Arturus Penhaligon, Retameron and Lord Stallan.
"Skarda is a slaver, that is quite certain. The mirror leads to a strange pocket plane where he and his men keep many slaves. Enslaved people come and go and we have recognized Sindhian, Darokians, Karameikans, Atruaghins and Ierendians at least. We never saw the buyers, I suppose Skarda's transaction take place in the real world. We saw Iron Ring men inside, but Skarda's men had no iron ring, so maybe he just cooperates with their organization, rather than leading it. He was strangely enough respectful to my mother and Claudia Penhaligon, almost as he was trying to win their affection. Or maybe he just thought to use them as ransom but never did it for some reason. Milena Antonic instead was never in their company and they just saw her occasionally. She may not be in the mirror anymore. The same happened later to Claudia Penhaligon, who disappeared three years ago. We have captured some minions of Skarda alive this time, and they confirmed all this in magical interrogation, but they did not know about the fate of Claudia Penhaligon and Milena Antonic. Obviously even if we were able to save my mother and some other enslaved people, we still have to capture Skarda and release all the slaves still inside that damn mirror, plus rescue any other he may have sold. But for now we cannot do much else until we have another lead. We did try to leave personal items inside the mirror, but magical inquiries cannot locate them now. Still, the wizards and clerics hope that if some sold slave or Skarda's minions picks up such an item, we will be able to locate them. Questions? Doubts?"

"That is really a good question - Gila says - such a powerful object must have left a trace if it appeared before in the world, somewhere. I will ask permission to investigate to the King in Highforge, in cooperation with our allies.."
"I will keep on searching for my mother, obviously, and Lady Penhaligon - Retameron says - so I guess every one of us has plans to make".
After the meeting, you also speak a bit with Bonth and the rest of your group.
"I will need some time of rest after the captivity - the gnome says - slavery is tiring. Probably we should return to Eveskyr now, unless you want to stay with Retameron. I will not rest long anyway, as I feel I need to search for Agnja and Blago, who are citizens of Eveskyr, and our friend Dim, and our allies Dorn, Elwyn, Petrus and Arkan. Come or stay?

You stay a few more days in Stallanford, enough for Bonth and the others to recover from their hardship. In the meantime the Kelvin family and their knights eventually leave Stallanford. Both Desmond II and his father thank you for the assistance and renovate the invite to visit them in Kelvin when you have time. They will also send rewards to you in Highforge.
The same goes with the Penhaligons and Fain Flinn, who leave too.
Lord Stallan too promises a reward to thank you for your aid and offer you several lunches and dinner at his castle, covering also all your expenses at the inn, while you remain in Stallanford.
Retameron leaves with Halia, Cardia and Sam the same day as you, promising to send you news soon about his search.
You depart on the 6th day of Ambyrmont, you three, Bonth, Milo and Talla, Gila and Gabriel, Kesh and Karto. On the Duke's road, you can reach Penhaligon easily in one day. In the evening of the 6th day, Fain Flinn and Arteris insist for offering you a dinner at The House of the Three Suns. Kaerin Penhaligon is present too.
"As Retameron, we will obviously continue to search for my mother everywhere - Arteris says - Kaerin will be the leader of some people tasked to follow rumours and discover cells of the Iron Ring. We could use people like you in our group, if you are interested"
"Me and Gila have specific responsibilities in Highforge - Bonth says - but the others can speak for themselves"

"We thank you for your offer and we will think about it - Kesh replies for everyone else, after looking around at you, Karto and the halflings - we value our life in Highforge, but certainly we will be happy to help Penhaligon if we can".
"We are more or less famous now and we will certainly have no shortage of dangeous work offers" Karto says later, smiling.
The next day you depart Penhaligon and travel south in the Duke's road (see map: http://pandius.com/karameikos-3_2m_draft.png), reaching the village of Osdelic, the quiet feud of a Thyatian-Traladaran family, by midday, a caravanserai on the road by night. "The Flaming Owl" is mostly frequented by travellers and a very quiet place. Except for a light rain, the day and night are uneventful. The pace you keep on the horses is also quiet and not too tiring.
The following day you pass the town of Krondsfield, which contains a temple, a wizard's tower and an inn, the Red Dragon, where you stop to eat quickly. By evening you are in Guido's Fort, where you will pass the night at the The Lion’s Den inn. Lord Marco, Cullen and Gareth (the human and the dwarf you rescued from the Hill) come to greet you and offer you drinks and food, and all the local people are happy to see you after you saved the town two years before, and willing to hear any new story you may want to share. The Kelvin family and their retainers have just passed the town two days before. Gareth also says sometime he sees also Killi and Vane, the two gnome wizards who are now with the Blue Lady, the dragon of the Moor, and who occasionally visit the town. Gareth says the area has been quiet recently and the town has gained much from trade with the ancient men of the Hill and the centaurs of the Moor. No bandits or humanoids have shown their faces in the past two years.
"Tomorrow we will be in Denbol, back in Eveskyr - Bonth says - even if Guido's Fort is apparently at peace now, we will probably soon find many place which are not".

In a couple more days, you return to Eveskyr. All has been quiet in the gnomish kingdom during your absence, but many are happy to see Bonth, Milo and Talla again, especially at the Ranger House. The next day you also meet King Dorfus and some elders of the Council, who praises Bonth, Gila and all of you for your actions and inform that rewards are coming for you from Stallanford, Penhaligon, Kelvin and Verge. A special reward has been allocated for you from the Eveskyr government too.
You can also have a time of vacation of your choice before you resume your duties in the city.

Reward: The total amount of the rewards is a credit letter at the Bank of Highforge with a value of 500 gold coins. This is a relevant amount, enough to buy a small house in the city or quite some magic items, but if you want something you will have to search for it and ask for prices and availability.
Amount added to Bofar, Lucius and Taradain sheets.

Vacation: Bofar's family and Klisa are happy to see him sooner than expected (you were away only 20 days) and his fianceé now hopes he will spend some time with her, maybe in a short vacation alone. The family is not too subtle in implying that you have gained enough honor to start thinking about settling down, as too much adventuring is reckless behaviour.
Lucius may travel to Specularum to visit his family if he wants to.

Bofar will spend a vacation with Klisa, mostly. He will also quietly enquire about the prices of houses and try to find a new hammer, preferably magical, for himself. He tries to ignore as much as possible any hints about settling down. If he is really cornered about the matter, he will say that he is thinking about it...

Bofar and Klisa spend the rest of the month on vacation, mostly walking and mountaineering in the safer areas of Mount Ben Dalen (http://pandius.com/Highforge_Kingdom.png).
In Motahur Bofar can also speak with the relatives of Agnja and Blago, still missing in Skarda's mirror, who are themselves looking for clues and are willing to help if another rescue mission will take place.
The price of a magical hammer (+1) can be as low as 90 gp using Bofar's dwarven connections.
A small house instead will cost at least 400 gp with a bit of aid from the family. Aunt Durla is willing to leave Bofar some more time if he does not go around too much beyond what is requested by Eveskyr duties..

Bofar will tell the family that he wants to able to buy the house with his own money. So he will need some more time to do that. He will also promise to Aunt Durla that he will not go beyond duties requested by Eveskyr, unless it is absolutely necessary to do that. He will nevertheless buy a new magical hammer. To Klisa he will explain that some of his friends are missing and that he must try to find them, its his duty, hoping that she would understand that.

Lucius travels to Specularum without too much publicity. He will see if it is possible to buy (in Highforge or Specularum) some magical armor, or even better ring of protection. He will leave half of the remaining money to his family.

Lucius has a safe trip to Specularum, temperature and climates are mild and the road has plenty of people, and also numerous patrols. Once in the city, he can spend some time with the family, which is healthy and faring well with their new little shop. After the assasination of Lord Krollan and the troubles of the last years, the Duke has spent some resources to eradicate Iron Ring cells in the city. Rumors in the streets are the Veiled Society was instrumental in helping him. His brother Fabius is now away for his Shearing. He might visit Highforge soon. His father has asked and obtained assistance from the Vorloi, given your good standing with them, who have helped in supplying the store and, mostly, keep the Veiled Society offers of "protection" away.
Mikel obviously would also be happy to speak with you and probably also Dimitri (former RobJn's PC), and Fortunato and Lucia Vorloi or also Trark if he still in the city.
Lucius soon understand ring of protection and magical armor are both cheaper with his connection in Highforge than in Specularum. He could obtain a ring+1 for 90 gp and/or a chainmail +1 for 110 gp. Prices are higher in Specularum. How much does he wish to spend and how much he wants to leave to his family of his total 607 gp?

Bofar has 553 gp but he already has a hammer +1 and a ring of protection +1. He could sell the hammer and buy a better one (+2) for 200 gp (the +1 could be sold for 80 gp). Klisa understands, she however proposes to put 300 gp in a saving fund to buy a house for them in the future.

Right, Bofar, sorry I forgot to give you the good news The soldiers of Stallanford have retrieved the hammer in the woods outside town and Lord Stallan had it delivered to you in Highforge. Apparently Skarda teleported in the woods when he took the mirror but did not bother or had time to pick your hammer.

So you could sell it and get a better one if you want to, or spend in other ways. Note that a plate armour +1 is quite expensive, no less than 350 gp even in Highforge, more elsewhere.
What do you do?

Noted for Lucius, he spends 200 gp, leave 200 to family and keeps 207 gp.
Sheet updated. Lucius has now AC 7 (AC7 -1 shield -1 ring +2 chain mail) and AB 6 (chain mail+1) improving the previous AC9/AB5 (AB is the absorbtion of damages. The new chain mail is also lighter).

Lucius will drop by the Hightower to discuss the Skarda events with Mikel, bur will do so with the utmost discretion. He's not going around telling people he's back, so there's no reason any of the others should be aware of his presence in Specularum.

Noted so I undestand Bofar does not buy anything for now. He will save money and resume his duties in Highforge at the beginning of the next mont, Sviftmont (Biflen in gnomish).

Lucius meets Mikel, who is very happy to see him. Mikel says the Duke has given resources and the aid of the Wizards Guild to the fight against the Iron Ring, and also removed from the city guards anyone suspected to be in league with them. So the situation in town has improved much. Less violence in the streets, but some crimes difficult to stop and prosecute, mostly intimidation and contraband by the Veiled Society. Mikel says Fortunato and Trark could be happy to see him if he wants. Mikel propose a quiet drink at the Mirror Bay Inn, if Lucius wants to. If not, he does not insist.

Now if you do not have anything else to do/buy, we assume you return to your duties for the rest of the year, training and serving in Highforge. It will be only in the spring of 993 AC that some consistent clues will reach you leading to some possible Skarda's activities. So choose one:
- From Krondsfield, about a disappeared official of the Elven Guard
- From the Dragons of the Moor, about strange sightings in the east
- From Penhaligon and Stallanford, about humanoids in the north
- From Bonth and Gila themselves, about possible informations on the origin of the mirror
- From Threshold about an ancient relic
- From Kelvin about Iron Ring activities
- From Specularum, about a stolen artifact.